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Description

Replacing the wooden structure located across the street that had served the Belton Community since 1853, the brick Southern & Blue Ridge Combined Railway Depot was designed in 1907 and completed by 1910. In the heyday of passenger and freight train use around 1914, there were 85 trains or trolleys making stops in Belton. Passenger trains were discontinued in 1961 and today only one freight train, owned by the Pickens Railway Company, travels past the Depot.

The Depot building has seen two renovations, one from 1980-1983, funded by concerned citizens and local businesses, and the other from 2005-2006, funded through grants from the South Carolina Highway Commission (ANATS) and Anderson County. The Depot was completely upgraded and rehabilitated and dedicated to the community in October 2006. The historic Belton Train Depot now houses the Ruth Drake Museum, the South Carolina Tennis Hall of Fame, a performance and meeting venue, and an exhibition gallery with coffee shop.

SOURCE: HMdb.org THE HISTORICAL MARKER DATABASE

The Belton Depot is significant for its historical association with the railroad's role in the development of Belton. It was built by the Southern Railway around 1910, a time of rapid growth for the South Carolina Railroad industry. A focal point of downtown Belton, it virtually defines the west side of the public square. The Belton Depot is also architecturally significant as an example of the prevailing turn of the century genre for depot design. -- Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS SC-621)